


When it's Broke (Fix It)

by TT_Angst_Queen



Series: NCIS One-Shots [25]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Bad Ziva David, Brotherly Love, Episode: s08e05 Dead Air, Father-Son Relationship, Papa Bear Jethro Gibbs, Team as Family, Ziva David Bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 05:53:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13517925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/pseuds/TT_Angst_Queen
Summary: Alternate Dead air Tag.What if Ziva was a lot worse then we think?The events at Royal Woods and Ziva David's real intentions and nature areRevealed, and three men realize that things need to change.





	When it's Broke (Fix It)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutsycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/gifts), [jane_x80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/gifts), [ShadowWolfsDen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowWolfsDen/gifts), [bobdog54](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobdog54/gifts).



Tony would have said it had came out of left-field, but it really hadn’t. It was a long time coming, and Tony was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner, to be honest. Ziva’s betrayal at Royal Woods wasn’t unexpected, it was something he had been waiting for to happen ever since the Mossad assassin had arrived and sat at Kate’s desk with a seductive smile and a disarming dig to his character in one fell swoop. He knew that the other iron boot had to drop with a monumental crash. Ziva had seemed to get better over time, but after Rivkin and Somalia, something in her seemed to… change. Tony expected Ziva, it didn’t surprise him that she would leave him swinging in the cold harsh wind of suburban terrorism. 

 

But he didn’t expect McGee. 

 

That…. That betrayal hurt. Tim’s apparent willingness to follow through with Ziva’s dereliction of duty wasn’t expected. He had expected better of the young agent of whom begged Gibbs to bring onto the team. He remembered exactly what Gibbs had told him when he had practically gone on his knees to beg for the Probie’s place on the team. 

 

_ “You bring him home, you train ‘im, DiNozzo. If he pisses on the carpet, you’re cleanin’ up the mess.” _

 

He had trained the probie into a man that no longer stuttered and stumbled. When Tim first arrived, both Gibbs and Kate dismissed the greener than grass agent. Kate pitied the young man, and Gibbs had tolerated his presence for the time being. But it was Tony that noticed the potential in the younger agent- and he knew that if he could just get the man to crawl out of his shell and gain some confidence in himself, he could be one hell of an agent one day. 

 

Tony hoped that they both had an explanation for their actions. But his gut told Tony that it wasn’t as simple as he hoped.

 

* * *

 

 

After Ducky had pronounced his throat damaged enough for him to try not to talk for at least a day, Tony found himself attempting to type up his report, but unable to move his fingers in the direction of actual words. 

 

It wasn’t until a soft cuff to the back of the head-more of a pat, really-made him look up, did he realize that the office had gone dark, and the only two left were Tony, and Gibbs. The clock showed that it was well passed midnight, and Tony realized with some shock that he had been sitting there for hours without even realising it. 

 

“You doin’ ok, Kiddo?” the older man asked, blue eyes filled with concern. Tony wanted to smile at that; Gibbs had become a father figure to him ever since he started working at NCIS.

 

Tony knew that Gibbs had been wary of Ziva's loyalty since he found out about her orders to kill her brother to gain the man’s trust, but Tony also knew that Gibbs had a weakness towards younger females, especially ones with bad pasts or red hair. Tony knew that Gibbs still hung onto the thought that Ziva had changed since Somalia, had gotten better.  

 

Tony really didn’t want to break the man’s heart. Not here, not now. Not until he collected enough evidence to prove what had happened at Royal Woods.This needed to be reported, no matter how much he wished it hadn’t happened.

 

But he couldn’t lie to Gibbs- to his  _ dad. _

 

“Not really, dad,” Tony sighed, avoiding the elder’s eyes. 

 

“Care to share, son?” Tony could tell that Gibbs knew something was wrong just from his tone, raspy and quiet as it was.

 

“Not yet,” Gibbs narrowed his eyes, and his shoulders stiffened.

 

“Tony-” the younger agent cut him off with a pleading look, and Gibbs immediately fell silent, seeing the seriousness in his eyes.

 

“Not right now, dad,” Tony looked at the blank page on his computer, and knew that he would be working from home. Not his apartment, but home. Gibbs house.

 

“I need to put a few things together, make a few calls, connect the dots,” Tony shook his head. “All I can tell you before that is that things are probably gonna’ go to hell in a handbasket pretty quick once I get all my facts straight,” Tony took a breath, and grimaced as it scraped against his throat like broken glass. “And I really think that I need to go home and start on that, Boss.” Gibbs acknowledged the switch from “dad” to “Boss” with a simple nod, but didn’t change the way he spoke to him like he normally did. Instead, he pulled Tony into a rare (in public anyways) hug.

 

“You know you can trust me, right?” there was a torrent of questions boiling in the silver-haired man’s expression, but Tony bit back the immediate urge to spill the entire story. 

 

“I know, dad,” Tony mumbled, his voice, already quiet and strained, muffled even further with his face in his dad’s chest. “But I need to get everything together first, ok? It’s not a matter of trust, it’s- It’s a matter of protecting you from the fallout if this goes sideways,” now Tony could see double the concern in his dad’s eyes, and Tony groaned internally and cursed himself for not leaving it at ‘I know’. 

 

“Tony, if this is gonna’ get you hurt-” 

 

“I’m going to be fine Gibbs, trust me ok?” Tony could tell Gibbs wanted to argue, but the man seemed to bite his tongue, to Tony’s surprise, and stopped himself, only responding with a jerky nod.

 

“Thanks, dad. Can I get a lift home today? I took the bus to work, my cars in the shop, again, dammit.”

 

“Yeah, meet me in fifteen, gotta get my files in order, shut down the computer..” Tony nodded, and gathered all his own files, putting them carefully in his briefcase, along with the flash drive of the recording of the comms and radio surveillance. 

 

* * *

 

 

The first thing Tony did when he ensconced himself into his room at home, was look through all his old files and reports since the Ari mess first started, and he started to see a disturbing pattern that made him feel simmering rage boil in his gut. How did he not catch the fact that the only way Ari could have known to go after the women in Gibbs’ life was Ziva’s background checks on all of them? As Ari’s control officer, Ziva would have been in constant contact with Ari- there was no way that she didn’t know what he was doing.

 

The second thing he did was make a few calls to a few of his… unsavory contacts from both his years as a cop and a fed, and ask a fair amount of questions.

 

* * *

 

 

First, Tony called Brodie “Trigger” Cortelli, one of his contacts from his undercover days in Philly. The man had ears out to a large net of underground information dealings, and the selling of. 

 

“Hey, Trigger, wussup!” Tony didn’t have to worry about staying in his past undercover persona, Trigger already knew he was a cop.

 

“DiNozzo, what the hell dude, where ya’ been T-bone?”

 

“Ah, ya’ know, here and there, all over the place…” Tony hedged.

 

“Aw man, you’re fishin’ for info aren't ya’, T-bone?”

 

“Guilty, Trig’. Have you heard anything about classified info on the Navy and Marines being sold?”

 

“Wow, ease into it much,” 

 

“Trig’...” Tony growled.

 

“Ok, ok! Look, the word is, some hot Israeli chick has info on this Fed organization, but she ain’t sellin’ shit, she’s passin’ it onto this other Israeli dude, they seem pretty tight, I don’t know names, but the chicks name starts with a Z, that’s all I’ve been told. Oh! And apparently she’s the daughter of some leader in Israel or somthin’ Edward, Elmer, Eli, or somethin’? I dunno…” 

 

“Thanks, Trig’,”

 

* * *

 

 

The third thing he did was put together the growing evidence and transcripts of his calls. 

 

The fourth thing he did was listen to the Royal Woods recording.

 

* * *

 

 

“ _ Ugh, I can not listen to him any longer, he is driving me ratty!” _

 

_ “It’s batty, Ziva, and he’s doing his job. He needs to talk long enough to each person so the voice prints will work.” _

 

_ “Well if I have to listen to one more minute of his idiocy, I will strangle him!” _

 

_ “Ziva, you promised if I- I helped you relieve your- uh, frustrations… you promised you’d leave Tony alone- you wouldn’t- you wouldn’t hurt- uh, relieve your frustration out on him!”  _

 

_ “And I can change my mind just as fast as I promised, Timothy, and if you do not turn off that radio I will make our “sparring” sessions so far seem like hugging time, McGee, do you understand me?” _

 

_ “Please Ziva, what if Tony runs into the terrorists and- Ow! Shit! Ziva that hurts!” _

 

_ “If you do not turn off that radio, this knife will relieve you of a few fingers, instead of a bit of flesh, do we have an accord?” _

 

_ “Y-y-yes M-m’am.” _

 

_ “We wouldn’t want Gibbs or DiNozzo to have an...accident, would we?” _

 

_ “N-n-no M-m-m'am, please…” _

 

_ “Good boy….” _

 

* * *

 

 

The fifth thing Tony did was cry. 

 

Tony’s Probie, Tony’s  _ little brother _ , was being threatened, no- his baby brother was being  _ tortured _ into compliance because he was trying to protect Tony and Gibbs from Ziva. 

 

This....They had succeeded completely burying what happened the last time someone hurt Gibbs’ family, but if Gibbs went after Ziva… there would be no chance of hiding that. Tony wasn't the only person Gibbs thought of as a son.

 

The sixth thing he did was tell Gibbs. 

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m sorry, dad…” Gibbs shook his head, eyes wet and full of rage. Looking up at the ceiling of the basement, Gibbs let out a shaky breath.

 

“I’m gonna’ kill ‘er,” Gibbs breathed, and Tony shook his head, grabbing onto Gibbs’ arms. 

 

“No, dad. You need to be on the right side of the law this time,” Gibbs clenched his jaw, and glared at him.

 

“Tony-”

 

“Dad, Tim is gonna’ need both of us, you can’t help my baby bro behind bars.” Tony could tell Gibbs didn’t like it, but he nodded stiffly.

 

“Fine, what’s the plan?” Tony sighed, then went to the kitchen so they could have something to drink. His immediate instinct was to go for the beer, but he stopped himself and reached for the coffee instead. They needed to be stone cold sober to hash out this plan.

 

“Well, first,” Tony sighed, sitting down on the couch with a groan, watching as Gibbs sat down beside him. 

 

“We need to figure out who we go to first,” Tony placed the mass of folders and flash drives down on the table. 

 

“My first instinct is to go to Vance, but-”

 

“He’s unpredictable.” Gibbs acknowledged.

 

“Yeah.” Tony grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

 

“But if we go over his head, IA is gonna ask us why.”

 

“And if they find out we don’t trust him,”

 

“They’ll dig, try to find out why.”

 

“And they could dig up the Hernandez file.” Tony growled, and Gibbs scrubbed his face, his eyes flashing.

 

“God, this is such a clusterfuck…” 

 

“I know, Boss. we’re gonna’ have to take the risk, and go with Vance. I’m not risking it.”

 

“Tony-” 

 

“No, Boss,” Tony snapped, “You’re not gonna risk getting thrown in jail because you killed that piece of shit. He had it coming, and nobody who has a smidgen of compassion would fault you for it. But the problem is, most lawyers and law officials don’t have that. We’re going with Vance.” Gibbs worked his jaw for a few seconds, but Tony could tell he had already figured out that that Tony wasn’t changing his mind.

 

“So we go to Vance,” Gibbs looked at the flash drive that held that simple, but world shattering recording. “Do we warn Tim? If Ziva finds out that Tim activated the car’s emergency internal recorder-” Tony caught on to what he was saying, and his eyes widened.

 

“-Then she’ll go after him,” Tony gasped. “Dad, we need to get him over here,” Gibbs nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with him.

 

“I’ll call him, It’ll seem less suspicious then if you called. If she’s with him, she can’t force him to stay without something seeming wrong.” Grabbing his phone, Gibbs dialed Tims number, and Tony found himself praying that McGee wasn’t with Ziva and would pick up.

 

“Yeah, McGee? Get your ass over to my house, you forgot to sign your report, not to mention the monthly expense report I told you needed your signature,” Gibbs listened for a second, and relief seemed to flash in his eyes. “Yeah, see you in five McGee.” snapping his phone shut, Gibbs turned to Tony. “Tim was already on his way here, he said he had something to tell me. He doesn’t know you’re here, so that might be a surprise for him.”

Tony nodded, then looked out the window. 

 

“Man I hope Ziva hasn’t reduced him to the Probie of olde, Gibbs,” Gibbs looked at him in question, and Tony shook his head. “You know, the stuttering, bumbling, afraid-of-his-own-shadow probie that I worked so hard to turn into my confident, strong little brother,” Gibbs nodded. “That guy.”

 

“Hell, Tony,” Gibbs grumbled, “I hope that too.”

 

The sudden sound of the front door opening made them halt in their conversation, and they watched as Tim walked into the living room, before catching sight of Tony and freezing. Tony thought that Tim looked about ready to bolt before he caught sight of the files and flash drives and the open folder labeled “Ziva David”, and all the tension and worry that seemed to rush out of him. Tim let out a huge breath and Tony watch as his legs seemed to buckle. And he would have fallen to his knees if it wasn’t for Gibbs catching him, and leading him between Tony and Himself on the couch.

 

“Oh thank God…” Tim muttered, and he ran his hands down his face, before placing them in his lap, looking at both Gibbs and tony and meeting their eyes.

 

“You know about Ziva- about what she-” Tony put an arm around the younger man, and ignoring the fact that Tim was just as tall as him, despite being thinner, he pulled Tim into his arms.

 

“God, Tim, yeah. We know… I’m so sorry I never noticed anything was going on,” Tim shook his head, looking slightly uncomfortable with his position in Tony’s arms, but with a hint of relief in his features.

 

“Tim… I should'a noticed you were hurtin’, son,” Tim could tell Gibbs was about to break one of his rules, #6, but he interrupted before the older man could.

 

“Hey, I hid it from you guys, you couldn’t have noticed, that’s on me,” Tony finally let Tim go, but held im by the shoulders, so that from Tim’s new position in front of them on the coffee table, he looked him in the eyes.

 

“Tim, I’m an undercover agent-hell, I’m a  _ deep undercover  _ agent- I should have known you were hiding something,”

 

“Same goes for me, son, I’ve done just as much Undercover and Deep Cover work as Tony, I should have known.” Tim shook his head, smiling wryly.

 

“Yeah, well,” Tim raised an eyebrow, snorting. 

“I learned from the best, didn’t I?” Tony and Gibbs blinked, and they seemed to think that through for a second. Gibbs was the first to react, with a smirk and a nod, then Tony barked out a bitter laugh and placed his face in his palms.

 

“Ah, God, Tim,” Tony groaned. “I know little brothers are supposed to look up to the older one, but not copy their bad habits,” Gibbs scowled, catching on to what Tony meant. “Just because your big bro hides when he’s sick or injured, doesn’t mean you're supposed to copy him!”  

 

Tim grimaced, looking down at his hands, biting his lip.

 

“I didn’t want you to get to get hurt, Tony.” Tim muttered, petulantly. 

 

“It’s my job to protect you Tim, not-”  a head slap made Tony wince and hiss in surprised shock.

 

“No, It's  _ my _ job to protect  _ Both  _ of you, and I failed at that.”  Gibbs snapped, his eyes flashing with both anger and guilt.  Tony shared an aghast look with Tim, then did something he had never done before.

 

“What the hell, DiNozzo!” 

 

He head-slapped Gibbs. 

Looking fiercely at his mentor and father-figure, Tony was ready to head slap the man again, but the warning look Gibbs shot him stayed his hand. But he certainly wasn’t going to leave that comment go unquestioned. 

 

“You do  _ not _ get to blame yourself for any of this, dad,” Tony snapped, “and you never failed us- with anything. If anything, you’ve excelled at teaching us and protecting us. If it’s anybody's fault, it’s Ziva’s.” Tim nodded, and spoke up.

 

“Yeah, da-Gibbs, Ziva made her choices, not me, not Tony, and definitely not you. I hate to speak ill of the dead, and you may not like it, but… part of the blame can fall on Direc- er, Jenny Sheppard,” Tim shot an apologetic look at Tony, and he acknowledged it with a nod and a grimace; he still felt badly about Jen’s death, but Gibbs had long since told him of the woman’s illness and plan to go out in a blaze of glory on her own terms. Tony had liked the red haired woman enough, but he still resented her for her manipulations and the way she had used him for her own agenda. The fact that she tried to lead Gibbs around by his dick, (and failed spectacularly at that, he might add) on numerous occasions didn’t endear her to him too much either. 

 

“Jenny, well, she trusted Ziva just because she saved Jenny’s life once. That’s no basis on trusting someone, and she should have known that, Gibbs. Jenny let Ziva into NCIS, and a high-profile position no less, without any thorough background checks. And she let Ziva run wild when you weren’t around, Boss. she didn’t reprimand her for anything,” Tim shifted a bit uncomfortably, and Tony caught the sad look in his eyes when he glanced at Tony. “She didn’t even reprimand me when you were in Mexico, Gibbs, and I’m ashamed to admit it but- I was an arrogant ass to Tony the whole time you were gone.” Time shot Tony a pleading, wide eyed look. 

 

“I’m really sorry about that, Tony. I don’t know why you ever forgave me, but… I’m thankful, really. I really like you Tony, and I have no clue what came over me all those months. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t-” Tony shushed him with a hand on his mouth, and a shake of his head. Tim looked indignantly at the offending limb attached to his face, and Tony grinned, a twinkle in his eye.

 

“It’s fine, McApology, ok? I forgave you because I know you.” at Tim’s confused look, along with Gibbs’ raised eyebrow, he elaborated for them, rolling his eyes at the obliviousness of them. “Tim, Ziva is a master manipulator. SHe’s been manipulating you since she got here, and I’ve seen it, but since my little brother is as stubborn and pigheaded as our pseudo-Father here-” He pointed at Gibbs, ignoring the twin glares sent his way by both men. “-I knew that if I attempted to point it out i would only annoy you. I  _ did _ try and knock you out of it more then a few times, remind you of times before Ziva got her but-” Tim’s eyes widened, and he flinched. 

 

“All the pranks? The teasing, the McKnicknames?” Tim groaned at Tony’s nod. “I knew they were getting worse, but I just thought you were being an ass, looking down at the geek,”  Tony shrugged, grimacing. 

 

“Yeah, well,” Tony muttered, before looking at Tim with apologies in his eyes. “Maybe I went too far sometimes, but you were getting really arrogant, Tim. I didn’t know what to do to get you knocked down a peg and wake the hell up,” He shrugged, “So I thought that if the minor Pranks and teasing got you to build a backbone while Kate was here, maybe if I stepped it up and made it a bit harder, you would remember what it was like when she was here. I thought that harsher pranks would knock you down to a reasonable, sane level, instead of make you even more indignant.” Tony huffed, a sad smile on his face. “I know I went a bit too far, and they were more like punishment, Tim, but I thought it was a hell of a lot better then putting a formal reprimand in your file. I didn’t want to make it harder for you to go farther in your career, little bro.” Tony smile proudly at Tim’s shocked face, and noticed idly that Gibbs didn’t look at all surprised by Tony’s logic. “One day, I’ll be answering to you, McDirector. I’m sure of it.” Tim blushed and shook his head.

 

“I don’t know what to say, but… I guess that makes sense, in a weird, Tony-ish way. But, Tony,” Tim looked at Tony with a disbelieving eye. “There’s no way I’d become Director of NCIS, if anything, that would be you,” Tony snickered, and beside him, Gibbs snorted a laugh. 

 

“Son, you’re a smart guy, but-”

 

“That’s a really stupid idea,” Tony laughed, and shared a smile with Gibbs. “Me As Director? No thanks, I hate politics. I would hate being cooped up behind a desk and regulated to meetings and kissing ass all the time.”

 

Tim nodded looking sheepish, But still looked confused. 

 

“But me, as Director?” Tim frowned. “I really can’t see it, guys.” 

 

“Tim,” Gibbs spoke up, sounding a bit irritated at Tim’s insecurity. “Vance is grooming you to be the next Director, you do know that, right? He’s told me plenty of times that you’re his ideal image for an NCIS agent  _ and  _ Director Of NCIS. To be honest, I agree with him- so cut the ‘I’m not good enough’ crap, ok?” Tim nodded with wide eyes at Gibbs’ firm tone, and the silver haired man nodded, satisfied for the moment. 

 

“Now, back to the original topic,” Gibbs sighed regretfully, and Tim winced while Tony scowled. 

 

“It started when she came back from Somalia,” Tim started, and Tony sat up straight. “I mean, I guess she started manipulating from the minute she got here but… she started getting  _ physical _ when she came back.” Tim winced, and Tony guessed he was remembering the first time she got ‘physical’. “It started with simple sparring sessions, she said she wanted to ‘improve my fighting skills’. At first it was just a few too-hard hits, then it steadily got harsher, then she started with threats… against Tony, first, then you, Boss. I didn’t believe her, at first, but….” Tim looked hesitant, and Tony saw Gibbs narrow his eyes.

 

“What did she do, son?” Gibbs pressed, and Tony nodded. 

 

“She showed me pictures, like surveillance shots, of you guys, outside of work. I knew that if you had noticed someone following you around and taking photo’s, you would have said something, anything. So I knew that she could get to you easily, and she would get to you if I didn’t listen.” Tim sighed, and Tony noticed the lines of tension on his face that he had never noticed before. Tony cursed himself for not noticing it before, and instantly felt guilty for not paying closer attention to his friend and brother. By the look on Gibbs’ face, Tony could see the same emotion all over the older man’s face, a big statement considering how Gibbs usually kept his emotions bottled up and clear from his face.

Tony guessed recent events made them both incapable of keeping their masks up.

 

“So I kept quiet, and drew on every single thing I learned when it comes to undercover from both of you.” Time exhaled heavily. “And I-I went to someone I trusted, when I needed medical attention, painkillers,   even just someone to talk to. Ziva didn’t know hi-uhm, the doctor, so-”

 

“Who?” Tim startled at the question, and raised an eyebrow.

 

“What-?”

 

“What doctor? What’s his name?” Gibbs snapped, and Tim grimaced, and squirmed in his seat.

 

“I don’t know what you’re-”

 

“Tim,” Tony pleaded, “Please, I-we, want to thank the man that helped you, when this is all over.” Tim hesitated, then nodded.

 

“Dr. Pitt.” Tony nodded, not really surprised. Brad really was the only doctor that Tim, Gibbs, and especially Tony, trusted ever since he got the plague. 

 

“I told him not to tell you guys, I didn’t want Ziva to hurt any of you.” 

 

Gibbs sighed, and Tony wanted to copy him. 

 

Tim was a good man, and he admired his protective streak and that he used it towards his team, his family, but so much could have been prevented if he had just come to them. 

 

They could take care of themselves. Tim… was still green. Was still a gentle young man that didn't want to hurt anybody unless it was life or death.

  
  


“We have to go to Vance, first,” Gibbs said quietly.

 

“But-” Tony protested, but stopped at Gibbs’ raised hand.

 

“As much as Leon is a politician, he's also a father, and a man sworn to protect the country and the agency. And he's a friend,” Gibbs shook his head. “When it comes down to it, Leon will choose the safety of his people and his country over the comfort of his position.”

 

Tony sighed. “Ok, Vance it is,”

 

Tony knew that this was gonna be a shit storm of epic proportions, but looking at Tim, his little brothers haggard appearance, and knowing his injuries, he knew it was worth all of it. 

 

This was his family, and he would keep them safe.

 

No matter the cost.

  
  
  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Sombody else can continue this, as Long fics of mine almost always are abandoned as I can't keep my muse alive for that long. But anybody is welcome to it, as long as the give me credit and tell me that they are doing it, and tell me when they're posting it ;D

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [We'll Fix It Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15454929) by [shnuffeluv](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv)




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